Atalantarah
by kc256
Summary: On hold: I might finish it, might not. I wrote this a long time ago, so the writing really isn't that great. Atalanta is given a task that seems impossible: to stop Kronos with the power of some unlikely creatures. This takes place just before The Battle of the Labyrinth. Rated T just in case.
1. The Journal Appears

**Note: When text is surrounded by {}, it means that it is in Lapine (translated into English). Rabbits and humans do not speak the same language, and I am not fluent in Lapine, so this is how you can distinguish English from Lapine. PLEASE read and review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, Watership Down, or any of the terms or characters in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and Watership Down.**

Atalanta's brain whirled. She thought of the impossible task ahead of her. The past year was full of surprises, and she had found out more about herself than she wanted to know. She found a journal on her bed. It had not been there before. It was one of those spiral-bound notebooks. On the cover (which was black) was her name, written in silver pen. On the inside was a note:

_Atalanta-_

_I know that writing is not one of either of our strong suits, but I figured that it would help you wrap your mind around things._

_I would just let you use a writing program on a laptop, but if what has happened to you got out on the Web… Even though I invented it, I will admit that the Internet can be treacherous._

_I hope your troubles with English won't hinder you, and I hope that your attention span will lengthen for this._

_Use this well._

_-Hermes, A.K.A Your father_

She knew that he was right. Managing to find a pencil, she began. She started jotting down all the impossible things that had started just a year ago.

_I am Atalanta Johnson, fifteen years old, sprinter, and oh yeah, I'm a daughter of Hermes, who is not supposed to exist._

_I found out when I was twelve. I was at the district track finals. Our school had, like, seven people on the track team. I'm serious. There was me, Atalanta, the sprinter that ran in every running event; Gracie, my first best friend, and the best pole-vaulter in the universe; Petunia, a new girl who was trying to make new friends while high-jumping; and Claire, my worst (at the time) enemy, who sprinted right along with me in most of my races. The other three were her posse, (whose names were Cassandra, Victor, and Lucille, and are as snobby as they sound) were forced to join track to help torture me. _

_I was running the mile. It wasn't my favorite, because I preferred the faster sprints. But it was my last race, and I had taken first place in all the others, so I was feeling pretty good. Claire was racing with me, which I wasn't too happy about. But I was more freaked out at the two other girls I was up against. They were super-tall, and had humongous muscles. I had never seen them before, in all my years of running track. I was sizing them up, when the race started._

_It was more of a cross-country course. We didn't do four laps around a nice track like we usually did. The school that the finals were usually held at had all these renovations or whatever going on, so we had to race through the trees, hidden from the crowd._

_I guess it was probably a little past the halfway point of the race when I noticed things were getting weird. I was ahead of the pack, as always, but was conserving my energy. The two mysterious girls were close behind me. Just behind them was Claire, who seemed to be struggling a little. The others were way behind. I don't know how I could tell all this, but I just knew._

_Anyways, it was a little past halfway when I heard Claire give a winded shriek. I was going to just keep running, thinking it was a trick (it wouldn't be the first time it's happened), when I heard the mystery girls laughing. I took a quick glance behind me and saw they had wicked grins on their faces. One of them had plucked apples off of the surrounding trees, and was chucking them at Claire. The other grabbed some from a sack, but these shone an evil gold._

_Then one of the apples hit Claire in the face. She wasn't able to dodge them forever. I stopped. "Hey! That's against the rules!" Even though she was my worst enemy, it wasn't right for these girls to just start chucking apples at her in the middle of a huge race._

_The bigger girl turned to me. "Who said we were playing by the rules, Atalanta?"_

_I was seriously starting to freak out. "How do you know my name?"_

_She smiled. "We have our sources." She threw a golden apple my way. _

_I dodged, but just barely. It grazed my foot. And it was hard. It hurt. Suddenly, I had a great idea. I stooped to pick up the apple, ready to bash the girl's brains out. I remember thinking, if they aren't going to play by the rules, why should I?_

_But, just like my namesake, picking up the golden apple was my downfall in the race. One girl grabbed me, and stuffed me into the sack, which was now empty of apples. She turned to punch Claire in the face for good measure, and then sprinted off into the forest. I tried to make myself as difficult to carry as possible, but it didn't matter since the girls were so muscular, and I was so light. They started talking, not realizing that I could hear them. _

"_Are you sure she's the one, Sasha?" asked a reedy, high voice._

"_Of course Zanita, she fits the description perfectly." said the Sasha, who I recognized as the bigger girl._

"_But Pythia saw her. That means that it's going to happen, no matter what." said Zanita._

"_She could be wrong. She could just be seeing what would've happened." replied Sasha._

"_But Pythia is never wrong! She has inherited perfect sight! She's a daughter of Apollo, for goodness sake! She can't be wrong!"_

_Sasha snorted. "There's always a first time."_

_We crashed through some bushes in silence. I was about to give up hope, when I heard something: a rustle in the bushes. Apparently Sasha and Zanita heard it too, because they stopped. Suddenly, one of them (probably Zanita) dropped their end of the sack, causing Sasha to grunt, and drop me as well._

"_What's happening? Who's there?" yelled Sasha, panicking. I heard her lumbering through the woods, trying to strike at something, and eventually wandering farther and farther away, occasionally grunting in pain. I think Zanita had already run away._

_I felt someone trying to move my sack. I scooted over, and let it be lifted over my head. I saw my other best friend James, folding up the sack, and smiling. "Close one, huh Lanta?" He always calls me Lanta, claiming that my real name is too hard to say._

_I was about to thank him and ask him what he was doing way out here in the woods without his crutches (he needed them to walk, since his legs were seriously messed up, or so I thought at the time.), when I noticed his feet. But they weren't feet: they were hooves. I took a few deep breaths, closed my eyes, and counted to three. But when I opened them, the hooves were still there. "James… can you tell me why you have… sheep feet?"_

_He groaned. "I take the trouble to save you from those creepy morons, and all you do is ask why I have sheep feet?"_

_I blushed, still staring at his feet. "Sorry. Thanks for saving me from those freaks. I must be hallucinating or something. It just looks like you have sheep feet."_

_He sighed. "You're not hallucinating Lanta. And they are not sheep feet, they are goat feet. If you must stare, you must respect the feet."_

"_Wait, you're half goat? OMG, you even have goat legs! You're fuzzy! What the heck is happening to you, James?"_

"_Stay calm. I'm not going to die. This is completely normal for me. I am a satyr. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you earlier."_

"_You are a say-WHAT?"_

"_I am a satyr. You know, like in Latin? Those awesome half-goat people who attend to Dionysus?"_

"_But satyrs… and Dionysus… and Apollo… they're just myths! They're just myths that the Ancient Greeks invented!"_

"_How exactly did Apollo get into this?"_

"_Those weird girls… Sasha and Zanita… they were talking about him. Actually," I corrected myself, "one of his daughters, Pythia. They talked about her as if she was real, and that Apollo was also."_

_James stuttered for a bit, and then sighed. "I'm so bad at explaining this stuff. I'll have to get you to Camp Half-Blood." Without waiting for me to contest, he dragged me to a horse. "We'll have to hurry if we want to make it to Long Island by sunset."_

"_Long Island, as in the Long Island in… New York?"_

"_I know what you're thinking. And no, you're parents and other friends don't know where you are. But soon someone will explain everything… at least to your parents."_

_I was trying to figure it all out, and tell him that that wasn't what I was thinking, and that there was no way we could get to Long Island by sunset from here, MAINE, when he pulled me onto the horse. He followed, patted it, and told it to lift off. Then, the horse flapped its wings- actual wings! - and flew! We soared for a long time. It was spectacular. For a minute I forgot that I had just been told that one of my best friends was a satyr, and that I was on a flying horse, going to New York from western Maine. _

_We landed in a strawberry farm, or so I thought at first. And then I saw more flying horses in stables, and more satyrs like James playing their pipes to the plants. "Come on," said James, "we need to get you to the Big House." He steered me to a house (which was indeed pretty big). There I saw an older man in a wheelchair playing cards with a pudgier man in a Hawaiian pattern shirt. Two other hands of cards floated in the air. At this point I couldn't possibly be surprised any more, and figured this was just some freaky dream. I always had dreams about the track finals before they happened, but none as weird as this._

_The man in the wheelchair turned toward us. "I do believe we have company, Mr. D."_

"_Oh, hurray." said the one that I figured was Mr. D, obviously unenthusiastic._

_James blushed. "Mr. D. … Chiron… this is Atalanta Johnson. She's a half-blood. She was just kidnapped by two other half-bloods, whom I believe are working for Luke. They were looking for her. She's not safe anywhere but here."_

_Mr. D. looked skeptically at me, and sighed. "Oh great, yet another brat for me to endure. Show her the orientation film."_

_I got mad. I could tell that this guy was lazy. I didn't want to watch some stupid orientation film. "Why don't you tell me yourself?" I asked._

"_Lanta… please don't provoke him, he's really dangerous…" James warned._

"_Oh?" I was on a roll. "Then why don't you tell me WHY? I want ANSWERS! Why should I watch some stupid film? I need to know why you dragged me through four different states on a creature that DOESN'T EXIST, without warning, and without explaining a SINGLE THING!"_

_The one they called Chiron stared at James accusingly. "Why did you drag her through four different states on a creature that shouldn't exist to her, without warning and without explaining a single thing?"_

_James stared at the floor. "I could never explain these things right…"_

_Chiron looked at me pityingly. "You know that James is a satyr, right?"_

"_Yeah, I do."_

"_You know that you were taken here on a Pegasus?"_

"_Uh-huh."_

"_You know that you are a half-blood?"_

"_A WHAT?"_

_He sighed. "I guess you don't. You know the Greek Gods, right?"_

"_Like Zeus, Hera… Apollo… Dionysus?"_

_Mr. D. looked up at the mention of Dionysus, somewhat surprised for some reason that I wouldn't find out until later._

"_Yes. They exist. There are not myths, they are very real. In fact, you are in the presence with one right now, so please don't say that the gods don't exist, unless you want every atom in your being to explode in flames."_

_I was stunned. I opened my mouth to speak, but couldn't say anything._

_Chiron paused a moment let this sink in. Then he continued. "Sometimes these gods and goddesses fall in love with mortals, and they have children. These children are called half-bloods, as they have immortal and mortal blood. You are one of them. We do not know who your immortal parent is. Until then, you will stay in the Hermes cabin."_

"_What in the world is the Hermes cabin?"_

"_Come." Without warning, he slipped from the wheelchair. His body rose out of it. Except… he was a horse from the waist down. He was a centaur. He started walking out. I followed._

_When I first saw the twelve beautiful cabins, I was breathless. They looked like ancient Greek buildings, except new. Each was different. _

"_They each represent a god or goddess." said Chiron. "The Hermes cabin is there, number eleven."_

"_There are only twelve." I said. "Aren't there more than twelve Greek Gods?"_

"_Yes, but these are only for the more powerful ones. Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Athena, Ares, Demeter, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Hermes, and Dionysus."_

"_Why should I stay in the Hermes cabin?"_

"_Because until you are claimed, you have to stay somewhere. Hermes is always happy to be hospitable to you and others who are undecided."_

_Suddenly, a thought came to me. "What about my parents? They don't know a thing. And how can I be a god or goddesses' kid if I have two parents?"_

_Chiron looked at me sadly. "Those things will be handled in the morning. It is late now, the sun is down. Take these toiletries, go to the cabin, meet some people, and rest."_

_I realized I was tired. I said good-night to the mysterious Mr. D., James the satyr, and Chiron the centaur. I entered the cabin, and shakily introduced myself. "Hi. I'm new. My name is Atalanta Johnson."_

_A boy a little older than me looked up. "Are you decided or undecided?"_

"_Um… Chiron said something about me being undecided."_

_The whole cabin groaned. Another boy, who looked a lot like the first stood. "I'm Travis Stoll. Welcome to the Hermes cabin. Put you stuff there," he pointed to a small corner, "and attempt to get some rest. There are a lot of snorers that we would like to become claimed."_

_I got settled in. I met some new people, and then Travis called lights out. I stared at the ceiling, thinking about how my world had been turned upside-down._

_Little did I know that it would only get worse._

"Lights out!" called Travis.

Atalanta was startled, not realizing how late it had gotten. She shut the notebook, and hid it where it wouldn't be stolen and read. Then, she fell asleep, contemplating her task ahead.

* * *

_{Fiver sniffed the air, nervously._

_Hazel was concerned. The only time he had seen Fiver like this was when he had seen his terrible visions… "What's wrong?"_

"_Nothing; at least nothing yet. Something is coming, something that will change our lives forever."_

_Hazel was puzzled. "Is it bad?"_

"_Maybe… maybe not… only time will tell… and Time is not on our side…"}_


	2. When Everything Fell Apart

**Note: Sorry it took so long to update this! The next chapter will be faster, I promise. Also, I've changed the first chapter's title, because the new one is so much better. Anyways, thank you so much to my first reviewer, Commander Ael! Guess what, you _will_ have a cameo in the next chapter. Yay! Everyone, please review! I really appreciate it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, or Watership Down, or anything in Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Watership Down.**

Atalanta had two days before leaving on her impossible mission. She went through her daily activities mindlessly, thinking about how the heck she would carry on with her task. After dinner and the sing-along, she returned to her journal. She quickly (or at least as quickly as she could) read through her first entry. Then, she picked up her pencil, and began a new one.

_Okay, I'm back. _She sighed, knowing that that opening was totally lame.

_Anyways, on with when I found out I was a half-blood. After breakfast the next day, where I learned about the offerings to the gods, I was called into the Big House. James escorted me._

"_What is this all about?" I asked._

"_Complications." muttered James._

_Before I had a chance to ask what in the world he was talking about, we were there. I saw Mr. D. and Chiron still sitting there, as if they hadn't moved at all since last night._

"_Atty Johansen, what exactly are you doing here?" asked the guy who I remembered as Mr. D., staring intently at his cards._

"_I don't know, but sir, my name is Atalanta Johnson, not-"_

_Before I had a chance to finish, Mr. D. butted in again. "Of course you don't know, Atty, of course. We have a little complication by the name of your parents."_

_Chiron looked up. "I'm sure Mrs. Johnson will understand though, Mr. D. You do remember her, right?" When Mr. D. didn't respond, Chiron sighed, and then continued. "You don't remember Rebecca Goldberg?"_

"_How do you know my mom's name?" I asked._

"_No." said Mr. D., ignoring my question, and answering Chiron's instead. "Was she one of the ones that survived?"_

"_Obviously." replied Chiron, also ignoring me._

"_That narrows it down, but still, no."_

_Chiron turned to me. "Your mother went here when she was about your age. She was a daughter of… maybe she'd better tell you. I'll IM her for you, since you have no golden drachmas."_

_I was confused. "Wait… what? What exactly are golden drachmas?"_

"_They are the currency of the gods." he replied. "Of course, the ancient Greeks used silver drachmas, but the gods will use no less than pure gold." his explanation was smooth, as if he had said it many times before, which I didn't doubt that he had._

_But one more thing about his sentence bothered me. "Why do you need golden drachmas to IM someone?" I asked._

_Chiron stared. James quickly filled in for him. "I think you two are thinking of different IMs. Lanta, you're talking about Instant Messaging, right?" I nodded, sure that I wasn't forgetting something else with the initials IM. "I believe that Chiron is thinking of Iris Messaging."_

_Chiron sighed. "Mortals are so confusing with their so-called technology. Would you like me to demonstrate, Atalanta?" Without waiting for me to say anything, he walked to the lake. I followed, not wanting to get lost. The mist rising up from it shimmered in a faint rainbow. "I hope this is enough." muttered Chiron. He reached into his… saddlebag, I guess, and grabbed a golden coin: a golden drachma. He threw it into the mist. I was too stunned to say anything. "O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering."_

_The mist glimmered. "Chiron," A soft voice said, "it's been a long time."_

"_Show me Rebecca Goldberg."_

"_Certainly." The mist glimmered again, and there was my mother! She was at home, staring out the window. _

"_Where is she?" asked a voice, my dad!_

_My mom was about to respond, but then saw the Iris Message. Her eyes widened. "No, no, by the gods, no!"_

"_What is it, honey?" My dad stepped into view. "What is that? Is that… Atalanta?"_

"_Hi Mom, Dad. Can you tell me what is going on?" I asked._

_My dad looked stunned. "Am I hallucinating? What's happening?"_

_My mom looked dazed. "An Iris Message. I haven't seen one of those since… Camp Half-Blood." Then she realized that Chiron and James were there. "Chiron? Atalanta is a half-blood?"_

_Chiron looked puzzled. "You mean that you didn't know?"_

_My mom sighed. "I wanted to say this differently… but Atalanta dearest… we love you so much, you will always be our precious daughter… but… you're adopted."_

"_What? I-I-I… wh-what?" I stammered. I mean, I should've known it all along, since I had an immortal parent, but I was secretly hoping that there was a mistake, that Sasha and Zanita were wrong, that I wasn't a half-blood. _

"_I found out that I was a daughter of Nike, the goddess of victory, when I was about your age." For some reason my mom –well she wasn't really my mom… but oh well- wanted to tell me everything now. She feels guilty about this kind of stuff. Like the time when I realized that my gerbil was gone, and wasn't 'visiting his cousins in Oklahoma' -man that was depressing- anyways, on with what my mom was saying. "Strange things happened to me, but that all got resolved at Camp Half-Blood. I stayed in the Hermes cabin for a few summers. But no more strange things happened, I no longer saw monsters, and I became a perfectly happy half-blood pretending to be a mortal. I met your father. My sister…" she got a little choked up at this point, but I understood. Her sister, Samantha, disappeared when she was 28. She was never seen again. "She was very pretty, and smart, and I was sure that some god had stolen her away. Then I found you, on the porch, with a note. It was from my sister, saying to take care of you. She didn't tell me who your father was. I kept hoping that you were normal… I hoped so much that I almost believed it… almost…" She started sobbing. "I wanted you to have a normal life."_

"_What exactly is going on here?" asked my dad –no, my uncle- , wondering what the heck was happening._

"_I'll explain it later." my mom –aunt- managed to choke out. Then she waved her hand through the mist, and broke the connection._

_After that, I had a pretty normal life –or at least as normal as a half-blood's life could be- training, making friends, and having a good time. But that soon changed..._

Travis Stoll called lights out, and Atalanta sighed. She wanted to keep writing, since she was so close to the part she wanted to write, the part that was the whole purpose of the journal, but it would have to wait. She re-hid the journal, and tried to sleep.

* * *

{"I'm worried about Fiver." Hazel said.

"All he does is stare into space and mutter 'It's coming, it's coming'." agreed Strawberry.

"I wish I knew what got into him." said Bigwig. "This certainly isn't like him... something _must_ be wrong."}


	3. The Impossible, Completely Bizzare Quest

**Note: Hi everybody! I'm back! I have finally updated! Yay! Oh, and thank you SO MUCH to Commander Ael, for reviewing once again! She has a cameo in this chapter, and in some of the others to come! Also thanks to the few readers who are staying true to this story, and are reading each chapter. It really means a lot to me! Also, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review! If you reveiw my stories, I will review yours!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, Watership Down, or anything mentioned in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series or Watership Down. Must I say this?**

**I will try not to overuse exclamation points in my next Author's Note! I promise!**

Atalanta had one more day. She had been excused from all activities to get ready for her quest. Two books lay on her bed. She grabbed the first, her journal, and finished writing what she needed to before she went on. She didn't bother with an introduction. She needed as much time as she could afford to study the other book.

_Two days ago –which would be about a year later- I was talking with one of my friends, Lea, at dinner. Lea's dad is Apollo, the sun god. She has short, darkish blonde hair, glasses, and is really tall. We were discussing who my immortal parent might be._

"_What if it was Apollo?" Lea said, leaning closer to the Hermes table. "You are a fast runner."_

_I shook my head. "It doesn't come naturally, like it would if I was. My… my mom," I hesitated, not knowing if that was the right word, "she was a daughter of Nike, so she wanted me to run too. It was the joy of her life. It was hard at first, but got easier as I trained more, just like it would for a regular mortal. It's easier for me to push myself in a quick sprint than to jog on my own, for miles and miles, like my… mom… does. And I suck at archery, and performing. So it can't be Apollo."_

"_I guess not." she said. "It would be nice if we were half-sisters, though."_

"_Yeah." I sighed. I wanted to know. I didn't want to be one of the undecided kids, waiting it out, summer after summer, and never knowing… I had already waited one year, and that was more than enough for me. _

_I looked around. I saw campers at their respective tables, talking and laughing with their half-siblings. I was at home at the Hermes table, but I wanted to know that I belonged somewhere, that I wasn't just someone who was a guest of some friendly god._

_I saw Chiron conferring with some satyrs. One of them was James. They looked worried. Suddenly, James saw me staring. I waved and smiled. His eyes widened, and he quickly turned back to Chiron. Soon, they were all staring at me. It was a little creepy, but I thought nothing of it… at least, not until the campfire._

_After the Apollo cabin- including Lea- finished the sing-along, Chiron stood. He cleared his throat, and everyone was silent. "I have an announcement to make." he said. _

"_No, really?" mocked Clarisse, trying to break the uneasy tension. I'm sure she meant well, - all the Ares campers were depressed for the longest time, for some reason- but it was too much._

"_This is not a situation to laugh about." he said gravely. Everybody was listening to his every word. "You all know that a certain titan lord is slowly gaining power. We need to do something about it. I have discussed it many times, and I think I now have the answer. Hermes actually gave me the idea. But this is not a job for any god or goddess. What we need is a nice, friendly, but brave, half-blood. We can't tell you about the quest now. The less people who know, the better."_

"_Why?" asked Lea. I admired her for being brave enough to speak up. "If everyone knows, we can help them! We could all make sure that everything is right! If more people know about a quest, more people can play to their strengths and make it a success!"_

"_She's right!" called Annabeth, a greatly admired (at least by me) Athena camper, who went on a quest to return the master bolt to Zeus, and was also captured by Luke, which lead to her holding up the sky to kidnap Artemis, which are not small accomplishments. _

_This lead to cheering and shouting and screaming. "Silence!" yelled Chiron. "Usually, that is the case. But for this quest, secrecy is necessary. We do not know if Luke has spies here, listening to us RIGHT NOW." That quieted down the campers. Chiron took a deep breath, and then continued. "I believe that I know the perfect camper for this quest." His eyes scanned the silent crowd. Did his eyes linger on me, or was I imagining it? "Atalanta Johnson, will you accept this quest?"_

"_What?" I was stunned. Why me? And how could I know if I wanted to take up the quest? I didn't even know what it was! _

"_You can do it!" shouted Lea, staying true to me, as always. "Go Atalanta!" This led to more cheering._

"_But why me?" I managed to say._

"_That I cannot tell you until you have accepted the quest." said Chiron. "Will you?"_

_Even in all the chaos that this caused –most of which was people screaming at me to accept it or not-, I heard Lea's encouraging whisper. "If Chiron thinks you can do it," she said, "I know you can."_

_I took a deep breath. "I accept the quest!" I yelled. More cheering ensued. "And I want Lea and James to come with me!"_

"_Me? You really want me to come?" asked Lea and James simultaneously. I nodded._

"_I'm sorry," said Chiron, "but in this quest, less is more."_

"_Why?" yelled Lea. "It has always been that three campers go on a quest! That's tradition! How can you break it now? You'll anger the Fates, and something bad will happen to Atalanta! You have to let her have two companions, even if they're not us!"_

"_It's true. The time that we had five on a quest, two got killed." said Grover, a satyr, who had gone on numerous quests._

"_Do you want this quest to happen or not?" asked Chiron in a dangerously low voice._

"_It's okay," I said, "I can do this alone. Who knows, maybe the Fates will shower two awesome companions upon me! Don't worry," I said to Lea in a whisper, "I'll be fine. After all, if Chiron thinks that I can do it…"_

"_Just don't get yourself killed." replied Lea, quiet enough so only I could hear._

"_So what exactly is this quest?" I asked Chiron._

_He opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, someone in the crowd called out. Soon everyone had their eyes on me –no, not on me, on something else, above my head. I looked up to see a shining caduceus hologram above my head. "What the-"_

_Everyone knelt before me. "Hail Atalanta Johnson, daughter of the Patron of Thieves, Herald of Zeus, and the Messenger of Olympus. Hail the daughter of Hermes, the god of travel!"_

_After that everything was a blur. I was a daughter of Hermes. I had found my real home, the Hermes cabin. I knew who my half-siblings were. I finally belonged somewhere. I even figured out that Lea was my second cousin or something._

_But I still had a quest to think about._

_Chiron took me off to the side, into the deserted dining pavilion. "Do you want to know what your quest is?"_

_I resisted the urge to say "No, really? I'm just going to go off into the world with no idea what I'm supposed to be doing." Instead I nodded._

_Chiron smiled, probably guessing what I was thinking. "Well you'll have to wait a bit longer, because it starts with a story. One that is vital that you know."_

"_Let's hear it." I said._

"_Long before the uprising of the Titans, but after all the quests of the ancient Greek heroes," Chiron began, "your future father, Hermes, was bored. I can understand why. Everything was fine and dandy on Olympus and the quests at Camp Half-Blood were getting slightly boring and repetitive. Hermes needs a little adventure in his life. He realized that the mortal humans didn't need his help for the time being, so he turned his attention to other species. His gaze happened to fall on a little creature scuttling along in the meadows. It was a rabbit, but this was before rabbits had their powerful hind legs, and multiplied instantaneously. Hermes realized that these animals could do with a little help."_

"_What does this have to do with my quest?" I asked._

"_You'll see." said Chiron mysteriously. Then he continued. "Hermes persuaded Artemis to turn him into… are you sure you're ready for this?"_

"_Yes, I think I am, why?"_

"_You might not be able to handle it very maturely…"_

"_I am _very_ mature." I said in my most mature voice._

"_If you say so… Hermes persuaded Artemis to turn him into a rabbit, and ship him to the poor little rabbits in England."_

_I seriously tried to hold it back. Really. It just sort of escaped. Next thing I knew, I was literally rolling on the floor laughing. It just seemed so funny, my father, a Greek God, turning into a fluffy little bunny?_

_Chiron rolled his eyes, but continued once I was done with my laughing bout. "He became a trickster hero to the rabbits. They called him _El-ahrairah_, the prince with one thousand enemies. He helped the poor creatures escape from predators, and steal lettuce and other _flay_, or food, from farmers. He also taught the rabbits more… sensible things, like worshipping the gods. To them, only two really existed, only two really lived on in their legends. That was because they were the only two that the rabbits could see and acknowledge their existence. They were Artemis and Apollo. To them, Apollo was _Frith_, the sun, while Artemis was _Inlè_, the moon. Of course, these rabbits did not believe in female rights, so they were sure that _Inlè_ was a male. Artemis was not particularly pleased about this, and sent more predators after them. But one of her huntresses took sympathy upon the little rabbits. She made Artemis turn her into a rabbit as well, and she became the Black Rabbit of _Inlè_. The rabbits were terrified or her, but when they needed her help, they came to her regardless of their fears._

"_Hermes never revealed himself as a god. He was their prankster lord, and that was enough for him, more than enough, actually. He convinced Apollo that the rabbits needed more defenses against not only the angry farmers they stole from, but also their natural predators, so that Hermes didn't have to stay with them for all time, fighting off… well, everything. So Apollo gave in and made a good show of giving all the animals in the area gifts. He was angry at Hermes for pampering these rabbits, but of course Hermes knew that, and was wary. He ended up tricking Apollo into giving rabbits strong hind legs, the power to multiply in the blink of an eye, and the gift of never being able to be kept out of a garden. _

"_Hermes had many other escapades of daringness, but eventually he had to leave his precious rabbits. He promised them that when the time came, he would return to them. He returned to Olympus, and has been watching over them ever since._

"_Now for the part you've been waiting for -where your quest comes in. Hermes knows that rabbits are special. They are more ferocious fighters than they seem, and their massive numbers would make a difference in an army. And some of them are even more special –they are prophets, in a way. They know when bad things are coming, and exactly how to avoid them. Hermes believes that a certain warren in England's Downs would do the trick. They would just need a bit of training: better fighting skills, how to harness their talents, and most importantly, working with half-bloods, gods, and who knows what else in a battle to defeat Kronos."_

"_So you're asking me to teach psychic bunnies to fight wars?" I asked._

"_That's pretty much it," said Chiron, "except that they'll be fighting wars against the Titan Lord of Time and his evil allies, who were just barely overthrown by immortal gods who are way more powerful than these innocent, fluffy, little bunnies."_

"_Gee, you definitely make it sound like I might succeed in the quest." I muttered sarcastically. "Anyways, why was I picked for this?"_

"_You were picked simply because you are the fastest sprinter in the camp, so you could easily outrun and catch any rabbits who try to dash away from you in terror. Also, you are actually kind and caring when you are willing to do something, so that helps too."_

"_So when do I start?" I asked, with a little more enthusiasm than if Chiron had just asked me to boil my head in cheese while being tickled by disgusting eels for all eternity. Do I have to mention that this means I was not very enthused?_

"_It'll be more interesting than you think." he said solemnly. "You will leave for the plane to England in two days. Meanwhile, you will be studying Lapine, so that when you do meet the rabbits, you won't have to point and grunt to communicate."_

"_What in Hades is Lapine?" I asked._

"_It's the rabbit's language." When he saw my taken aback look, he smiled and explained. "You don't think that the rabbits spoke English do you? And if they didn't speak something, how could Hermes communicate with them?"_

"_Good point." Then I realized something. "Am I going to consult the Oracle about this, or am I going to blow off another traditional quest element?"_

"_It wouldn't do any harm to go to the Oracle." he mused._

_Of course it wouldn't do any harm to go to the Oracle. It was talking to it I was afraid of. There are stories of people going insane up there._

"_Why don't you go now, and then go to your cabin? Tomorrow you can train and then work on your Lapine."_

_It sounded like more than a command than a question, so I started to scurry off._

"_Atalanta," he said, and I turned, "the Oracle's words often have double meanings. Don't fret too much about them, but do listen."_

"_Sure," I said, and then scampered off._

_Let me tell you, I don't think I was prepared at all for the Oracle._

_I slowly walked to the Big House, and climbed up to the attic, where the Oracle was. It was immense, filled with trophies from past quests. I was starting to think that it wasn't so bad up there after all._

_But then I saw what had to be the Oracle._

_The Oracle was a mummy, but not like the normal kind of mummy, if you know what I mean. She was more of a shriveled-up husk of a woman._

_The mummy sat up straight, and a billow of green fog slid out of her mouth like a snake. I tried to back away, but I… just couldn't. _I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, seeker, and ask. _The voice didn't say anything aloud, it all just echoed eerily in my head._

"_What is my destiny?" I asked, because it sounded good._

_It showed an image of six little bunnies, just like the ones that Gracie, my best mortal friend, recently got. They were those little lop bunnies, with droopy ears._

_The first one sat up on its haunches, and stared at me. _You shall travel great distances to find what you seek. _Again, the words just echoed inside my brain._

_The second twitched its nose. _You shall make things strong that once were weak.

_The third nibbled at some clover. _A battle between brothers shall rip allies apart.

_Then the fourth stomped its foot on the ground. _Treachery and lies shall shatter every heart.

_Number five scampered to a hole, and then looked back. _You shall strive to make peace, but to no avail.

_The rest of the rabbits ran to the hole, except for the sixth, which turned to me and spoke the final line. _Hopeless and lost, you shall ultimately fail.

_On that happy note, the green smoke whirled back into the mummy, and everything was silent. _

_Cheerful, right? I ask the Oracle for help, and it just tells me that I'll do great, and then, oh guess what, I'll fail. I thought that maybe I should just tell Chiron that I couldn't do it. But I had already accepted the stupid quest… and I couldn't fail my father. Even though I knew I would. Ugh. So frustrating._

_I went back to Chiron, and repeated the prophecy for him. I could barely get out the part about me failing. After I was done, he just stared at me in silence. "Maybe if you don't get lost…" he began, but I didn't listen. I ran to the Hermes cabin, no, MY cabin, flung myself into my tiny sleeping quarters, and sobbed the night away._

Atalanta re-read the journal entry. _Dramatic, _she thought, _but accurate. _

She closed the journal, and then turned her attention to the second book. It was her new Lapine-English dictionary. Chiron gave it to her, saying to study up.

She spent the rest of the day trying to remember the difference between _flayrah _and _silflay_, or what in Hades a _yona _was. The _-il_s, _-rah_s, and _-roo _s always tripped her up. But somehow she managed to stumble through memorizing some useful terms and phrases. She wasn't sure if her grammar was exactly correct, but she didn't really care. She just needed a way to communicate with the rabbits.

The day quickly passed, and when Travis called lights out, she lay in her bed, wondering how she would battle Kronos with the power of fluffy little bunnies.

* * *

_{Fiver stiffened. For the past couple days he had been muttering and mumbling, but always on the move._

"_Are you okay Fiver?" Hazel asked._

"_It's almost here…" Fiver said in a possessed-sounding voice. _

_And then he fainted._

"_Fiver?"_

"_What's wrong Hazel?" asked Strawberry, who scurried over at Hazel's cry._

"_It's almost here…" Hazel just said, wondering what Fiver meant._

_He would find out very soon.}_


	4. Planes, Cliches, and a Nasty Surprise

**Note: I have finally updated! I'm so sorry that this took so long! Don't worry, from now on I will update as much as possible.**

**Disclaimer: I still do not own Watership Down, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, or anything in them.**

* * *

Atalanta was dying of boredom on the plane to England. She would've wrote in her journal, but the lady sitting on her right was already reading the man sitting on the other side of her's book, so who it was almost certain that she would read whatever Atalanta wrote. And there was a 99% chance that she was a mortal, so Atalanta waited until she pulled out a book of her own to start writing.

_When I woke the next morning, I knew it was officially the beginning of the end. But I rolled out of bed anyways. I grabbed some essential possessions, and started to leave. Then, I turned, and retrieved the journal from its hiding place._

"_I can't forget you!" I said, smiling. The purpose of the journal was to keep me sane, and being sane is essential to the quest._

_Apparently, I said it louder then I meant to, because I woke up Travis._

"_Atalanta," he announced, "I think you have officially lost it."_

"_I have not!" I said, embarrassed that I was caught talking to an inanimate object._

"_You were speaking to a book."_

"_I don't know what you're talking about."_

"_Oh, so you were speaking to me?" he said, grinning cockily._

"_No! I was not speaking to anybody!"_

"_Sure," he said, grinning evilly._

_As I started to stomp out, I realized that I already blew it. No one was supposed to know when I was leaving for my quest._

_Sure enough, one person noticed our little argument._

"_Going somewhere?" asked Connor sleepily._

"_You know where." I spat. "Is it okay if I leave now? Because I have a plane to catch." That's right; I further blew it by telling them that I was going to my quest by air._

"_Good-bye Atalanta, don't get blasted out of the sky by Zeus!" they said in unison._

_And with that cheerful sendoff, I scampered out of the cabin._

_I met Argus at Thalia's tree. It would be nice to be a tree, not having to worry about anything… but no, I had to be a human… life is so unfair._

_Argus took me to the airport, where I hopped on a plane –I was almost late, darn those Stoll brothers-, and here I am now. Nothing of interest has happened since. _

Atalanta closed the journal. She stared out of the window, wishing that she had brought something to do on the plane. So instead of reading, surfing the web, or sleeping, she quizzed herself on her Lapine, and in her head went over how she was going to confront the bunnies.

It was a long plane ride.

When she was about to lose it, and was considering asking the lady next to her (whose name was Mary, she could see it on her luggage) if she wanted to play tic-tac-toe with her, when they started to land.

The part of England that they were landing in was so wonderfully beautiful. Atalanta stared out the window, until the plane landed.

When it did land, she walked off, and exited the airport. All the things she needed were in her carry-on bag.

When she was wondering if she should get a cab or what, a nice silver sports car pulled up. Inside was a man wearing a suit and tie. He looked familiar.

"Atalanta!" he exclaimed. "Long time, no see! Actually," he thought about it for a moment, "I really haven't ever seen you in person before. But that doesn't matter does it?"

_Yes, it does,_ muttered a voice. It was like the Oracle, because she didn't actually hear it, but its voice echoed in her brain.

"Who are you, and how do you know my name?" she asked, slowly backing away.

_Poor girl,_ said another voice, _she is probably freaking out right now. It's your entire fault, George!_

_Is not! Martha, _replied George, _it's as much your fault as it is mine._

"Do you want me to set you on vibrate?" threatened the mysterious man.

_No, no, not vibrate, please, anything but vibrate! _shrieked George and Martha.

"I asked you a question." she stated, not able to hide the slight quaver of fear in her voice.

The strange man glanced around, and then took a deep breath. "Atalanta…" he whispered.

"What is it?" She exclaimed, really starting to freak out.

"Come closer, it's too public here."

She scooted closer to the car. The man leaned out of the window, and continued to delay. "Are you ready for this?"

"Hurry up already." She grunted, as this guy was really starting to get on her nerves.

"Atalanta, I am your father!"

Atalanta hesitated. "Are you really my father, or are you just saying that to be cliché?"

He grinned. "Both, I must confess. Hop in!"

She slid into the car, which immediately took off. By the time she was able to register the number on the speedometer, she felt like her stomach was still at the airport. "Would you mind slowing down?" she asked tentatively.

"Hey, it's not every day you get to ride in a nice car with Hermes, the one and only god of travel, so maybe I would rethink that question." he said.

_Ignore him, dear, he's just being stubborn._

_I think she does have a point though, Martha. I really don't think that it would look good to Zeus if his messenger got a speeding ticket._

"All right, all right, I'll slow down!" exclaimed Hermes. He brought the speed down to a decent level.

A few minutes of awkward silence passed in the car.

"Where exactly are we going?" asked Atalanta after a while.

"To a place known as Watership Down." replied Hermes.

The car went silent again.

Hermes fidgeted in his seat, took a shaky breath, and then spoke. "I remember your mother well. Samantha… I wonder how she's doing."

"Wait a minute," Atalanta said, "she's still alive?"

"As the mortals like to say, _duh_."

"Why didn't I hear of this before?" She shrieked.

"Well…" Hermes hesitated.

_You may as well just tell her, _prodded Martha gently.

"She's not in the best condition. Are you sure that you want me to tell you?"

"Of course I do, she's my mother!"

"She got in a bad car accident about four years ago," began Hermes slowly, "and…"

"What? What happened to her? Is she alright?"

"Well… she's sort of in a coma."


End file.
